A charge starting with EB * on your statement

EB * means a ticket or registration bought through Eventbrite. The words after it are the start of the event’s title. SAN FRANCISCO CA after them is where Eventbrite is based, not where the event was. Refunds come from the event organiser first.¹³

What it looks like on a real statement

The State of Delaware publishes every purchase its employees make on state cards, with the merchant name as the bank received it. When we counted on 28 September 2026 it had 953 lines starting EB * from 20 August 2024 to August 2026, under 190 different names.⁷ Before that date the same charges came through without the star: 3,343 lines starting EB from July 2017 to 19 August 2024. The same yearly conference shows the switch: EB 2023 SHAPE DELAWAR, then EB *2024 SHAPE DELAWAR.

Eventbrite’s help pages say the line carries the "first 15 characters of the event title".¹² Its own example keeps 18 (CORGI FESTIVAL 202), and so does Delaware’s data: 837 of the 953 lines keep exactly 18 characters of the title, and none keep more. Titles that start with a year or a number lose the words that say what the event was:⁷

Other Eventbrite lines, and who gets them

If you run events on Eventbrite, these lines are charges to you, not purchases:¹

• EB *Payin for event: money added back to your event to cover refunds.
• EB *Refund to buyer: a refund you paid from your own card.
• EVENTBRITE AD CAMPAIGN, EVENTBRITE PRO SUB, EVENTBRITE EMAIL PAYG, and EB* EVENT LISTING FEE: fees for ads, a subscription, email sends, and listing an event on the Flex plan, which Eventbrite stopped offering in September 2024. These can also show as EVENTBRITE.COM ORG FEE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA.

Eventbrite also says American Express sometimes shows its purchases as "Business Services", and that an event paid through PayPal will show whatever the PayPal seller’s name is instead.¹ If your line starts PAYPAL *, read the PayPal page.

Why it can show up twice

Eventbrite says declined purchases are the most common cause of a duplicate charge: they show as pending and should disappear on their own. The same help page gives two different waits, "within 5-7 business days" at the top and "after seven business days" further down.² If both charges are still there after seven business days, log in and check for two orders. Two orders means asking the organiser to refund one; one order charged twice means contacting Eventbrite.²

How to find what it was and get your money back

1. Search your email for the event words Put the words after EB * into your email search, and also the exact amount (for example 45.43). Eventbrite creates an account automatically for the email address used to buy tickets, so the order is tied to that address.³ Ask anyone who uses your card too.
2. Log in to Eventbrite and open Tickets Use the email address the ticket was bought with. Your orders are listed under Tickets. If you never set a password, use the password reset for that address.
3. Ask the organiser for a refund Eventbrite says organisers set their own refund policies and issue refunds. In Tickets, pick the order and select Request a refund; if that option is not there, select Contact the organizer. "The organizer should respond within five business days."³ Eventbrite’s rules for organisers make five business days the limit for a first reply, whatever their policy says.⁵
4. If the event was cancelled or postponed, Eventbrite can refund you itself If the organiser says no or does not answer, Eventbrite’s refund page says you can use its Attendee Refund Request form when the event was cancelled within the last 45 days, or has been postponed for more than 90 days without a new date. That only works if Eventbrite processed the payment, which is the case when your statement says EB and the event title.³⁸ Eventbrite’s rules also require organisers to refund when an event is not delivered as advertised, or you cannot get into the venue.⁵
5. After a refund, wait up to ten business days Eventbrite emails "Order refunded" from noreply@order.eventbrite.com. Its refund tracking page says refunds "normally arrive within 3-5 business days" in one place and "within 5-7 business days" in the next, and up to 10. After 10 business days you can ask for a tracking number (ARN) from that email and give it to your bank.⁶
6. If you cannot place it, go to your bank Bring the statement line exactly as printed, the date and the amount, and what you already tried. Ask your bank what its deadline is for disputing a charge. It depends on the bank, the card network and the reason, and missing it can end your options.

Is this fraud?

Usually not. In Delaware’s data almost every EB line is filed as business services or ticket sales, and the names are conferences, trainings and events.⁷ Eventbrite’s own advice is to check whether someone you know used your card to buy tickets, and to contact it if no one did.⁴

But an EB * prefix does not make a charge genuine. If no one on your card bought a ticket and nothing turns up in your email, treat it as unauthorized: call your bank, ask for a new card, and dispute it.

Why this page is on a site about held money

The organiser’s ticket money also sits with Eventbrite until it is paid out, and sometimes it stays there. The incident record holds 21 organisers’ own reports of Eventbrite ticket money that was late, cut short or not paid out, from 2020 to 2026 (entries HF-2026-0174 to HF-2026-0194), and one ticket buyer’s refund held up by what they were told was a "known issue" (HF-2026-0195). If your line starts WPY*, that is WePay, used by many race and event sign-up pages; if it starts SQ *, that is Square; if it starts FSP*, that is Fullsteam, which many associations use for dues and conference fees. A hotel room for the event booked through a booking site rather than the hotel shows as CCI*HOTEL RES or HOTEL RES-, often with a separate fee line. Other lines are in the table of statement names.

Sources

1. Eventbrite Help Center, "What is this charge from Eventbrite?". eventbrite.com. Read on 28 September 2026.
2. Eventbrite Help Center, "Duplicate/Pending Charges". eventbrite.com. Read on 28 September 2026.
3. Eventbrite Help Center, "Request a refund". eventbrite.com. Read on 28 September 2026.
4. Eventbrite Help Center, "Contact us", "I don’t recognize a charge on my card". eventbrite.com. Read on 28 September 2026.
5. Eventbrite, "Eventbrite’s Organizer Refund Policy Requirements", last updated 11 January 2024, sections 1.1(g) and 1.2. eventbrite.com. Read on 28 September 2026.
6. Eventbrite Help Center, "Track your refund". eventbrite.com. Read on 28 September 2026.
7. State of Delaware Open Data, State Employee Credit Card Transactions, fields "merchant", "trans_dt" and "cat_descr". Lines starting EB. Queried and counted on 28 September 2026.
8. Eventbrite, "Attendee Refund Request" form. eventbrite.com. Read on 28 September 2026.